Duolingo's male Dutch voice pronounces "nieuwe" with that hard vibrating "v" sound Dutch people use for "w" when it appears at the start of sentences. Isn't it supposed to be a soft almost vocal sound when w comes at the end or just before an ending "e"? Isn't it supposed to sound like "knee-you" and not "knee-vah" as the Duolingo voice is making it out to be?

Well, maybe my english isn't sufficient, but by saying "we were going to learn new things" I mean that the student thought they were going to learn new things, but now he is confused because the teacher tells him they are in fact not learning new things. That is exactly what "We zouden nieuwe dingen leren." in this context implies.

I'm not saying that "We would learn new things" is not correct, I'm just saying "We were going to" should also be correct.

Lastly, Duolingo is still far from perfect, especially the Dutch course.

The English translation is grammatically correct. It expresses an aspiration to learn new things when unstated obstacles have been removed. It is more commonly used with a qualifier; 'If you kissed me. I would love you forever.' My question is

Yes we do! To translate your example: ''Als je me zoende zou ik al altijd van je houden''.
But to be honest both in English and Dutch it would be more correct to use: If you were to kiss me I would love you forever/ Als je me zou zoenen zou ik altijd van je houden.